Literature and Videos  

Literature

A Turkey for Thanksgiving by Eve Bunting

I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie by Alison Jackson

Over the River and Through the Woods illustrated by

   John Gurney

Sometimes It’s Turkey---Sometimes It’s Feathers by

   Lorna Balian

Arthur’s Thanksgiving by Marc Brown

Farmer Goff and His Turkey Sam by Brian Schattell

Best Thanksgiving Book by Patricia Whitehead

Oh, What A Thanksgiving by Steven Kroll

‘Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving by Dav Pilkey

Videos

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving

The Mouse on the Mayflower

Songs and Poems   

Alburquerque the Turkey
(tune of :"O' My Darlin' Clementine")

Alburquerque was a turkey,
And he's feathered and he's fine.
And he wobbles and he gobbles,
And I'm awfully glad he's mine.
 
He's the best pet you can get yet,
Better than a dog or cat.
He's my Alburquerque Turkey
And I'm awfully proud of that.
 
And my Alburquerque turkey
Is so cozy in his bed.
'Cause for our Thanksgiving dinner
We had Egg Foo Yung instead.

Mr. Turkey

(tune of Shortnin’ Bread)

I am Mr. Turkey, Turkey, Turkey,

I am Mr. Turkey, big and fat.

On my tail are feathers, feathers, feathers.

On my tail are feathers—what do you think of that?

When I walk, I wobble, wobble, wobble.

And when I talk I gobble, gobble, gobble!

Turkey and Dressing

(Are You Sleeping?)

Turkey and dressing,
Turkey and dressing.
Pumpkin pie! Pumpkin pie!
Everyone is humming.
Thanksgiving Day is coming!
Yum, yum, yum!
Yum, yum, yum!

Thanksgiving Dinner
(tune: Frere Jacques)

We eat tur-key, we eat tur-key.
Oh, so good. Oh, so good.
Al-ways on Thanks-giv-ing, al-ways on Thanks-giv-ing
Yum-yum-yum! Yum-yum-yum!

Verse 2: Mashed po-ta-toes. Mashed po-ta-toes.

(Repeat as in verse 1)
Verse 3: Pie and ice-cream.
Verse 4: Home-made bis-cuits
Verse 5: Tur-key, dress-ing

Down on the Farm

(tune of Down by the Bay)

Down on the farm where the turkeys are a-gobblin’.

They strut and stomp, look so silly, hats a-bobbin’.

As they dance and sing, as they dance and sing…

1.    Did you ever see a pig dancing a jig?

2.    Did you ever see a goat sailing a boat?

3.    Did you ever see a cow taking a bow?

4.    Did you ever see a hen writing with a pen?

5.    Did you ever see a goose dancing with a moose?

The Turkey on the Farm

(tune of Wheels on the Bus)

The Turkey on the farm says, "Gobble, gobble, gobble;

Gobble, gobble, gobble; Gobble, gobble, gobble."

The Turkey on the farm says, "Gobble, gobble, gobble"

On Thanksgiving Day.

The farmer on the farm goes chop, chop, chop;

Chop, chop, chop; chop, chop, chop

The farmer on the farm goes chop, chop, chop

On Thanksgiving Day.

The turkey on the farm says "Please help me!!

Please help me!! Please help me!!"

The turkey on the farm says "Please help me!!

On Thanksgiving Day.

The children on the farm say "Come and hide,

Come and hide, come and hide."

The children on the farm say "Come and hide"

On Thanksgiving Day.

The wife on the farm looks all around,

All around, all around.

The wife on the farm looks all around

On Thanksgiving Day.

The family on the farm eat Kentucky Fried Chicken, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Kentucky Fried Chicken.

The family on the farm eat Kentucky Fried

Chicken

On Thanksgiving Day.

The Turkey on the farm says, "Gobble, gobble, gobble;

Gobble, gobble, gobble; Gobble, gobble, gobble."

The Turkey on the farm says, "Gobble, gobble, gobble"

On Thanksgiving Day.

The Turkey Dance

(sung to Turkey in the Straw)

Oh, you turkey to the left (two steps to the left)

And you turkey to the right (two steps to the right)

Then you heel and toe (do motion with foot)

And you scratch with all your might. (scratch with foot)

Now you flap your turkey wings (put thumbs in armpits and flap)

While your head goes bobble,bobble. (wobble head)

Turn around and then you say, (turn around)

"Gobble, gobble, gobble!"

Six Little Turkeys

(Six Little Ducks)

Six little turkeys that I once knew,

Fat ones, skinny ones there were too.

But the one little turkey with the funny red wattle,

He led the others with his gobble, gobble, gobble.

Gobble, gobble, gobble,

Gobble, gobble, gobble.

He led the others with his gobble, gobble, gobble.

Over the rocks and through the trees,

Turkeys wobbling in the breeze.

But the one little turkey with the funny red wattle,

He led the others with his gobble, gobble, gobble.

Gobble, gobble, gobble,

Gobble, gobble, gobble.

He led the others with his gobble, gobble, gobble.

I Eat Turkey
(Frere Jacques)

I eat turkey, Point to self)
I eat turkey. (Point to self again)
Yes, I do, (Nod head)
Yes, I do. (Nod head)

Turkey in my tummy, Rub tummy)
Yummy, yummy, yummy. (Rub tummy)
Good for me, (Point to self)
Good for you. (Point to others)

Joe Scruggs Turkey Song

(Tune of The Battle Hymn of the Republic)

There's a turkey in the back yard and he's really getting fat.

There's a turkey in the back yard and he's really getting fat.

There's a turkey in the back yard and he's really getting fat.

'Cause he eats corn all day.

Chorus:

I don't want to eat the turkey,

I don't want to eat the turkey,

I don't want to eat the turkey,

On Thanksgiving Day.

We bought him from a former and he's now become my pet...

And he comes when I call his name.

My mother's on a diet and she should be eating fish...

So my turkey may get to stay.

I hid my daddy's hatchet in the woodshed out in back...

So my turkey will get to stay.

Turkey Pokey
(Hokey Pokey)

You put your right wing in.
You put your right wing out.
You put your right wing in,
And you shake it all about.
You do the turkey pokey
And you turn your self around.
That's what it's all about.

Additional verses:

Left wing (left arm)

Drumsticks (legs)

Stuffing (tummy)

Wattle (head)

Tail feathers (bottom)

Turkey body (whole self)

Thanksgiving Colors

Orange is a pumpkin.

Yellow is the corn.

Brown is the turkey

With stuffing to adorn.

Red are the cranberries.

Green are the beans.

Five delicious colors-

In a feast of my dreams.

I'm Glad I'm Not a Turkey

Oh, I'm glad I'm not a turkey,
A turkey, a turkey,
Oh, I'm glad I'm not a turkey,
On Thanksgiving Day.
They stuff you and bake you,
And then they all taste you.
Oh, I'm glad I'm not a turkey,
On Thanksgiving Day.

Thanksgiving  

by Ivy Eastwick

Thank You for all my hands can hold-  

Apples red and melons gold,

Yellow corn, both ripe and sweet,  

Peas and beans, so good to eat!  

Thank You for all my eyes can see-

Lovely sunlight, field and tree,  

White cloud-boats in sea-deep sky, 

Soaring bird and butterfly.

Thank You for all my ears can hear-  

Birds' song echoing far and near,  

Songs of little stream, big sea,  

Cricket, bullfrog, duck and bee!  

I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie

Make a class book by doing an interactive writing sentence to illustrate each food the old lady ate. For example, “She ate pie.” (Let the children help compose and sound out the words for each sentence.) Students collaborate to draw food pictures for each page.

There is a storytelling apron that students can wear and feed the food pieces to the old lady. This apron can be purchased from Lakeshore Learning. I used photos from this to illustrate each page of our book.

If You Meet a Turkey

(adapted from Kim's classbooks):

http://www.hubbardscupboard.org/seasonal_related.html#Turkey

This is adaptation of the Wright Book, "If You Meet a Dragon. Glue a turkey cutout (I used an Ellison die-cut turkey) to each page. Use a real feather to “tickle” the turkey on each page. Make a pocket for the inside cover of the book as a place to store the feather.

If you meet a turkey,

Tickle his feathers.

Tickle his nose.

Tickle his wattle.

Tickle his toes.

Tickle his tummy.

Tickle his chin.

And that will be

The end of him!

(On the last page, cut the turkey in half vertically and glue to the right edge of the page so it appears the turkey is running away.)

I Eat Corn

(source unknown)

Cut pictures/labels from a Cornflakes cereal box and a corn tortilla bag. Get pictures of corn dogs, corn on the cob, and corn muffins. Use these pictures to illustrate the sentence on each page:

I eat Corn Flakes for breakfast.

I eat corn dogs for lunch.

I eat corn on the cob for dinner.

I eat popcorn, crunch, crunch.

I eat corn muffins for a treat.

I eat candy corn, how neat.

I think corn is good for you.

I give thanks for corn, don't you?

The Turkey Trick 

(source unknown)
 

This is a patterned writing activity for practicing nouns, verbs, describing words, and quotation marks. Each turkey disguises itself as another animal to fool the farmer. It goes well with the song "Five Fat Turkeys are We", a song about turkeys hiding from the farmer and fooling him. Make three columns on the board: Animal Names, Animal Actions, and Animal Sounds and then brainstorm ideas for  

This is an example:

I could be a __________. (pig)

I could ____________. (roll in the mud)

"_____, ______," (oink, oink) said the turkey.

"Oh!" said the farmer.

"It must be a _________!" (pig)

Turkey's Week

(source unknown)

This is an adaptation of the book, "Cookie's Week". Make up a story about a turkey and the days leading up to Thanksgiving.

The children work in groups to illustrate each page.  For example:

On Sunday, Turkey ran away from the farm. 

On Monday he flew to Hawaii. 

On Tuesday he sat on the beach and ate pineapple,

On Wednesday he…

On Thanksgiving Day, he…

On Friday, Turkey …

                 Tell Me About Turkeys

(Teacher’s Helper, Nov/Dec/Jan 1998-99)

This is a factual book about turkeys. The booklet is round in shape and you add a few touches to make the cover look like a turkey. Two plastic forks are taped to the back of the book. The prongs hang down at the bottom and look like the turkey's feet. Adorable!

Indian, Indian, What do you see?

(from Linda at http://www.kinderteacher.com)

Indian, Indian,

What do you see?

I see the Mayflower

looking at me.

Mayflower, Mayflower,

What do you see?

I see Plymouth Rock, waiting for me.

Plymouth Rock,

Plymouth Rock,

What do you see?

I see a teepee close by the sea.

Teepee, Teepee,

What do you see?

I see some Pilgrims standing near me.

Pilgrims, Pilgrims,

What do you see?

We see turkey and cranberries,

Corn and Pumpkin pie,

A Thanksgiving Day dinner is what we spy.

Other Literacy Activities       

I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie

(Idea from Mary Martell)

Make an old lady by enlarging a basic shape of a woman. Cut out her mouth and her belly and laminate her. Hot glue a clear garbage bag to the back of her mouth that hangs down to her belly. Make pictures of each food item in the story for the kids to use to feed the Old Lady.  You can also make a word card (pie, rolls, cider, etc.) to feed her after they feed her the food pictures. Later the kids match the food word to the picture. Make enough food pictures (like three pies, three rolls, etc.) so several kids come up when it's their turn to feed the old lady.

I also made individual “old ladies” for each student by taping a ziplock sandwich bag behind her cut-out mouth. They each had miniature food pictures to feed her for retelling the story at school and at home.

Thanksgiving Book from Kinderlit

Small Group Turkey Game

Give each child a lunch bag with a turkey cutout attached to the front. Program index cards with words or letters that need reinforcement. Place cards in the center of the playing area. In turn, players draw a card. If they can read it, they “stuff” their turkey with the word. Play continues until all of the cards are used. Students count the cards in their bags to determine the winner.

I Am Thankful Turkey

Attach a turkey body to a construction paper background. On the body, write, ”I am thankful I can read these words.” Write words on feathers. Students can glue on feathers of words they can read.

Turkey Toss

Stuff a lunch bag with newspaper and staple shut. Attach a turkey cutout to one side of the bag. Hang the bag turkey by a string suspended from a chart stand. Play a flashcard game and give each child a beanbag to toss at the turkey if he can read the flashcard.

Feast for Ten
by Cathryn Falwell
This website has a lesson plan and rhyming picture cards of items from story.

http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/go/wil/Feast_for_10_Lesson.pdf

It’s Thanksgiving
by Jack Prelutsky
This is a book of poems and the website below has a lesson plan and pictures of what Pilgrims were grateful for.

http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/go/wil/Its_Thanksgiving_Lesson.pdf

“A Turkey for Thanksgiving” worksheets for story recall, characters and sequencing

Teacher’s Helper, Nov/Dec/Jan 1997-98

Thanksgiving Food Match
Teacher’s Helper, Nov/Dec/Jan 1999-2000

Math          

Roll a Turkey Game

Students need a blank sheet of paper. They work in small groups and take turns rolling a die to make a complete turkey, including a body, a head, a face with a wattle, 2 legs, 2 wings and 4 feathers. The first one to finish drawing his turkey is the winner!

Click here to print out the Roll a Turkey game.

Click here to print a pre-drawn dotted head and body. This would be helpful for the students if they roll a 3, 4, 5, or 6 before they've drawn the turkey head or a body. It gives them a point of reference to draw their own wings, feet, face and feathers.

Science          

Incorporate a plant/seeds unit by planting a corn seed, popcorn, and candy corn.  Make predictions on what will grow and then watch their progress!  Some kids will actually think a candy corn tree may grow from the candy corn. After a few weeks make a Venn diagram comparison of between real corn and candy corn.

Put an ear of corn in a pot filled with potting soil half covered with the soil.  It will grow.  Be sure to use field corn or Indian corn. 

Or just take an ear of Indian corn and place it in a pie tin with water.  The kernels of corn actually start growing! 

Social Studies 

Mayflower Re-enactment

This was an idea from Sharon in Florida. Nine classes combined to create a student-formed Mayflower.

Making the Mayflower (the boys):
Line up 2 rows of boys to be the boat. If you have an odd number of boys, let the odd one be the front of the boat. Have each set of 2 boys (standing side-by-side) lock opposite arms from boy 1's shoulder to boy 2's shoulder. Then each boy holds onto the shoulder of the boy directly in front of him.

THIS MAKES THE MAYFLOWER BOAT.

Boarding the Mayflower (the girls):
The girls in your class are the Pilgrims. Have the girls crawl under the archway the boys have made with their arms. They will be inside the boat.

Then the sea gets a LITTLE ROUGH and the "Mayflower" GENTLY rocks back and forth. The boat can move VERY SLOWLY FORWARD so the "Pilgrims" have time to move up too, going to America.

Then the "Mayflower" gently bumps into PLYMOUTH ROCK (a cabinet, chair or table from your room). The "Pilgrims" get off (crawl out from tunnel made by boys archway). The boys then become the Native Americans and greet the Pilgrims.

THEN ALL CHILDREN PLAYED ON THE PLAYGROUND.

Thanksgiving Story Retelling Bracelet

Use these colored beads to retell the story of the first Thanksgiving.

• First brown bead represents the Pilgrims leaving England for religious freedom

• Next white bead represents the sails on the Mayflower

• 3 blue beads for the long trip over the ocean

• 1 green for when they spy land

• 3 white (or clear glitter) for the snow during the long winter

• 1 green for the arrival of spring

• 1 tan for the Native Americans who helped the Pilgrims

• 4 beads for the foods served at the first Thanksgiving

  • 1 red for cranberries,

  • 1 yellow for corn

  • 1 brown for turkey

  • 1 orange for pumpkins

Art/Craft Activities

Handprint Turkeys

Paint child’s palm and thumb brown and each finger a different color. When dry, paint the tip of the index finger red and put on thumbprint for the turkey’s waddle. Use orange marker to make beak and feet and black marker for eyes. Add this poem beneath the turkey handprint:

       This isn’t just a turkey,

       As anyone can see.

       I made it with my little hand

       Which is a part of me.

       It comes with lots of love

       Especially to say:

       I hope you have a very

       Happy Thanksgiving Day!

Family Gift Bag

Cut an eight inch circle of muslin. Have children use fabric crayons or permanent markers to decorate the circle. Use saran wrap to package a small amount of popcorn kernels and wrap into a ball shape. Fold the muslin circle up around the popcorn and tie with ribbon or yarn. Tie a small tag to the ribbon printed with the following verse:

       This is a tiny little sack.

       Inside you’ll find a popcorn snack.

       Outside there is a bit of art

       To say you’re always in my heart.

Coffee Filter Turkey

Use eyedroppers to drop colored water (from food coloring) on to a coffee filter. While this filter dries, glue colored feathers along the upper rim of a second filter. Glue the colored filter over the plain filter, sandwiching the ends of the feathers between. Glue on a circular head, wiggle eyes, waddle, beak and feet cutouts.

Turkey Napkin Holder

Use brown construction paper for a body, red for the head, and orange for the legs and beak. Cut out the pieces. Glue the bottom of the head piece to the body piece. Fold the beak in half and glue one side to the head. Glue on wiggly eyes. Attach the legs to the back of the bottom of the body. Glue this note to the front of the body section after creasing the wings forward.

       Turkey on the table.

       What do you say?

       Yummy, yummy, yummy,

       Yummy all day.

       Turkey in my tummy.

       What do you say?

       I ate too much

       On Thanksgiving Day!

Cut a toilet paper roll in half and hot glue it to the back of the body section to enable the turkey to stand up. Buy colorful napkins and stuff the napkin (fan it somewhat) into the toilet paper roll to serve as the turkey’s feathers.

OK, so the napkin holder on the right is pathetic, but he has been living in a box in my basement for years. Pretend he has 2 eyes, a poem on his tummy and a colorful napkin sticking up behind his head. At least you get a visual--kind of!

Family Turkey Homework

I send home a turkey blackline and ask the students' families to help their child decorate the turkey. It's always amazing how creative they are, using beads, paint, cereal, glitter paint, pasta, colored popsicle sticks, silk leaves, pompoms, feathers and fun foam shapes. Last year I even had a football player turkey!

I Am Thankful Quilt

For quilted squares, children glue precut pieces (1 and one-fourth inches square) over a quilt pattern. A decorated die-cut turkey was glued in the center. On the other square, the children tell what they are thankful for and draw a picture of it.

Turkey Hat

Trace two of the turkey bodies. Draw on a wattle, beak and eye. Cut 4 colorful feather strips 2 inches by 12 inches. Staple turkey together at heand and back. Fold feathers and glue on each side of the turkey's back.

Turkey Headband

http://family.go.com/crafts/cutpaste/craft/turkeyhat/

Watercolor Turkeys

(from Linda at www.kinderteacher.com)

Children watercolor the turkey bodies. Glue a photo of each child on for the turkey face.

  Paper Plate Turkey

Block Turkey

(from Linda at http://www.kinderteacher.com)

Children paint a wood block (a 2x4 cut into approximately 8" lengths) brown. Silk flower leaves are hot glued on for the tail feathers. Washers painted white are glued on for eyes. Felt is used for the beak and wattle. Paint wooden spools brown and slip them on to a  2" wide strip of fabric (approximately 24" long). Tie a knot at each end. Finally, a knot is tied in the middle of the strip and it is hot glued to the bottom of the block for the turkey's legs.

Wooden Turkey

These two pieces are cut and then painted. They fit together so the turkey is free-standing.

Hand and Footprint Turkey

Trace both feet on brown and glue one over the other. Trace hand 6 to 8 times on red, yellow and orange construction paper. Draw orange feet, yellow beak and red wattle. Glue on wiggly eyes

Turkey Dressing

This is a family project to disguise a turkey so he won't be eaten at Thanksgiving. Begin by sending home a turkey outline without feathers. The turkey at this link would be a good one to use, once you cut off the feathers:

http://teachers.net/gazette/NOV02/images/turkey.pdf

The parent letter below combines ideas contributed by Sharon (FL) and Cathye (TX).

Turkey Dressing
(Holiday Family Project)

It's time to have fun creating a very unusual bird. As a family, disguise Tom Turkey so that he won't be eaten for Thanksgiving! You may choose to dress your turkey as a doctor, an astronaut, a farmer, a cheerleader, a ballerina, a clown, etc... Be creative and use any materials you have at home. Everyone gets to help.

Cut out the enclosed turkey and mount him on cardboard or heavy paper. Make it very original and have fun!

Please, help us save these turkeys! The turkey homework is due on Tuesday, November 18, but you may send it in earlier.  When your Tom Turkey is incognito, he can "hide out" in our classroom!

Happy Turkey Dressing!!!
 

This poem can be used when you display the turkeys on the bulletin board:

My name is Tom Turkey

And I'm afraid as I can be.
I'm wearing my disguise
So you won't catch me.

Bulletin Boards   

Ears Lookin' at You Kid!

Give each child an outline of a piece of corn on the cob and have them dip their fingers in different autumn colors to put their fingerprints all over the corn cob. The fingerprints will look like little corn kernels. After they dry, add a corn husk at the bottom of the piece of corn.

Thankful Turkey

Make a giant turkey.  Take long strips of construction paper (about 2"X9”) and glue on a piece of paper that says "Thank you for _________”, said Jake Turkey.  Glue a small photo of the child at the very end of the "feather".

We each made a square for our turkey quilt.

Butter

Use a half pint of heavy whipping cream and a dash of salt.  Put into a container with a lid. Put heavy tape around the lid to prevent leaks. Each student counts to 20 as he shakes the cream and then passes it on around the circle. Shake until cream turns to butter. (You will have to pour off a little liquid.) Serve to students on crackers.  They can chant one of these poems as you shake.

Shake, shake, shake,
Butter we will make.
Churn, churn, churn,
Now it is your turn!
~Author Unknown

Making Butter Boogie

Shake it up
Shake it down
Shake it, shake it all around.
Shake it high
Shake it low
Shake it, shake it to and fro.
Shake it over
Shake it under
Pretty soon, you'll have butter!
~Author Unknown

Cornucopia 1

Use a half graham cracker as a base. Use frosting or peanut butter to adhere a bugle to the cracker. Fill with Trix cereal fruit pieces.

Cornucopia 2

Ask parents to help contribute cornucopia fillings, such as popcorn, raisins, nuts, bite-size cookies and small candies. Fill a waffle cone cornucopia with these items.

Standing Turkey Cookie

1 Oreo cookie

1 red hot cinnamon candy

1 malted milk ball

Chocolate frosting

Candy corn pieces  (approximately 8-10)

Open the Oreo, leaving the cream filling on one side. Attach the cinnamon candy (turkey head) to the malted milk ball (turkey body) using chocolate frosting as glue. Use a dab of chocolate frosting to attach the turkey body to the cream filling side of the oreo. Spread chocolate frosting on the other piece of Oreo. Arrange candy corn pieces on chocolate frosting with the wide end of candy along the outer edge. Attach each turkey tail behind the turkey body, using the frosting. Store in refrigerator.

Turkey Cookie

1 Oreo cookie

1 red and 2 orange mini M&M's

1 malted milk ball (or Hershey kiss)

Chocolate frosting

Candy corn pieces  (approximately 5-6)

Cover one side of the Oreo with chocolate frosting. Attach the the malted milk ball (turkey body) near near the center of the cookie. Arrange candy corn pieces on chocolate frosting with the wide end of candy along the outer edge. Put a large dab of frosting above the malt ball (turkey head). Push the side of the red M&M into this as the wattle. Push orange M&M's (feet) into frosting below body.

Albert's Thanksgiving Pizza
 

Here is the recipe for Albert's Pumpkin Pizza Pie (found on the back of the book Albert's Thanksgiving by Leslie Tyron)

3 lbs. sweet pie dough (recipe in next box)

3 cups mashed pumpkin or one 29 ounce can pumpkin (not pie filling)

3 eggs

1 cup sugar or honey

1 tsp.pumpkin pie spice

1/3 cup whipping cream

pinch of salt

1 cup of whipping cream whipped with 1-2 tbsp. sugar and 1 tsp. vanilla (or use one can of whipped cream)

1/4 cup each for each pie:

      chocolate chips or butterscotch chips or mint chips

           or white chocolate chips

      candied nuts

      raisins

      mini marshmallows

Method:

Divide dough into 3 pieces and on wax paper roll each into a 12 inch round about 1/8 inch thick. Put on a baking sheet or pizza pan. Next, in a bowl mix pumpkin, eggs, sugar, spice, cream, and salt until well blended. Spread 1 cup on each pizza dough, leaving about 1/2 inch from the edge. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for about 20-25 minutes.  When it comes out of the oven and cools slightly, decorate with whipped cream, chips, candied nuts, raisins, and marshmallows.

Albert's Pumpkin Pie Pizza Dough

(makes 3 pizzas)

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 lb. butter or margarine

2/3 cup sugar

3 whole eggs or 6 yolks

Method:

Cream the butter with the sugar in a mixing bowl, blending well. Then add the egg and slowly mix the flour and salt a little at a time. Mix until a smooth dough is formed. Chill for a couple of hours or overnight.  This dough can be made in a food processor. (It also freezes well, but divide in three pieces before freezing.)

Turkey Cheese Ball

16 oz cream cheese, softened
1 c shredded Cheddar Cheese
2 c sunflower seeds
1 bunch small carrots with tops
1 bunch celery with leaves
1 apple

Combine the cream cheese with the cheddar cheese. Form into a ball and roll in the sunflower seeds. Chill in refrigerator for a couple of hours. The celery and carrots become the turkeys feathers by pushing them into the cheese ball. The head of the turkey is made by attaching small pieces of apple and celery to the ball with toothpicks. Serve on crackers after removing the toothpicks.

Counting Corn Booklet

Have children make corn counting books by gluing corn kernels on pages that have the numbers 1 through 5 written on them.

Bean and Corn Patterns

Use several varieties of dried beans and corn (or Indian corn) kernels to create patterns.

Popcorn and Cranberry Patterns

Give each child a large needle and heavyweight thread to string popcorn and cranberries in a pattern. Hang the strings outdoors in trees for birds to eat.

Favorite Thanksgiving Foods Graph

Create a class graph by letting children select their favorite food,  such as turkey, stuffing, potatoes, cranberries or pumpkin pie.

Favorite Popcorn Flavor Graph

At this time of year you can buy those cans of popcorn with 3 different flavors of popcorn in them. Taste each flavor of popcorn and graph the results. Use the popcorn bag picture on http://www.abcteach.com for them to color and label with their favorite kind and then do a graph on the floor.

Least Favorite Thanksgiving Foods Graph

After Thanksgiving at home or a school feast, create

a class graph by letting children select their least favorite (I Didn't Like It) food, such as turkey, stuffing, potatoes, cranberries or pumpkin pie.

Turkey Glyph

Use your own turkey pattern or use this one for the glyph:

http://abcteach.com/Thanksgiving/turkpattern.htm

Students follow these directions to color their turkey:

  Boys orange beak, girls; yellow beak

  Yellow feet has siblings; Red feet does not have siblings

  Body: like to eat turkey, brown; doesn't like it, black

  Color the turkey's eyes the color of your eyes.

Now, cut out the turkey and glue it on a piece of construction paper.  Choose your favorite color of paper.   Color and cut out the feathers. You will need the same amount of feathers as your age. 

Put these turkeys on the bulletin board and post this note to ask visitors to locate a student's turkey from the clues.

Can You Find My Turkey?

My name is ________________.

I am a __________.

I _____________________ siblings.

My favorite color is _______________.

I ____________________ to eat turkey.

My eyes are _________________.

I am ______ years old.

Do You Like The Butter We Made?

After shaking cream to make butter and tasting it, we used tally marks to count the number of children who liked the butter and the number who didn't like its taste.

Then we converted the tally marks into a graph.

Feast Ideas          

The following feasting ideas are some suggestions I've saved over the past few years. Maybe something will work for your class!  

Dressing Up

Make a Pilgrim hat or bonnet and a  Native American headband and vest. Then allow the children to choose one to wear to the feast, and they have an extra something to take home. 

Friendship Fruit Salad

Each child brings some fruit from home (these could be sorted and graphed). Then we make a huge fruit salad with

everyone's contribution.  Serve with homemade butter and cornbread.

Games and Songs

Sing some Thanksgiving/turkey songs you have learned, such as 10 Little Indians and A Turkey Is A Funny Bird.

Play some old fashioned games, such as potato relays,

races, and a turkey trot. 

Turkey Dogs

These are just hot dogs, but stick a turkey head and tail feathers on toothpicks in the hot dog on the bun to look like a turkey. Have the children color them a few days before. Parents can bring in a salad or dessert for the feast.

Parent Pilgrims

Students wear Indian costumes they've made at school (headbands, grocery store vests, beads). Parents are invited to be the Pilgrims. Children share some songs/poems about

Thanksgiving and make an I Am Thankful book to read

to their parents before the feast. 

Set up long tables for serving the food and spread many long table cloths on the floor as a place for children and parents to eat. Serve popcorn, corn bread mini muffins, pumpkin pudding with whipped cream, and apple or cranberry juice.  Make the pies and corn muffins at school. Parents are asked to help by sending in paper goods, canned pumpkin, cornbread mix, tablecloths, whipped cream, and juice. 

Send home a form announcing the feast at the beginning of November. Have a cut off at the bottom asking how many will be attending and if they would be able to help by sending in something. About two weeks before the feast  assign the parents who offered one item to send it in.

Tasting Feast

(from Ardis K. in MI)

To feed an entire class of about 20 parents sign up to bring in:

ONE box prepared Stove Top dressing

ONE 20 oz canned corn

ONE large pumpkin pie

ONE bowl of mashed potatoes (about 6 lg potatoes)

ONE can of cranberry sauce (mix in a wee bit of sugar) ONE mini-cornbread muffin (made from 1 box of mix) ONE pound of deli sliced turkey (several parents split the cost)

ONE jar/can of turkey dressing

ONE can of whipped cream

Apple juice to drink

The class knows that they will only be Tasting - not gorging! They get ONLY one small spoonful of each item. IF they finish it and want more, they can have more until it's gone. We let the 'slab' of turkey deli slices lay on top of each other and just score it into about 1" square pieces. All food comes to school in a microwavable container. The parents warm the food in the Staff Lounge's microwave during recess. Then we sit down to our Tasting Feast. The kids know they're only getting a tiny bit and they have permission to just TRY it -- it's ok if they don't LIKE it. And so often.....they do finish it. We have very very little waste. Again, since they only get a BIT (and that's really really hard for the parents to just put such a little bit on the plates), the kids who really want more are able to have more. A-n-d....many kids will finish their little 'bit' - even though they don't care for it and don't want anymore. Afterwards, either later that day or the next (we always have our feast on the day before our last day), we vote on 2 graphs -- Our Favorite Feast Food and Our Didn't Like It Feast Food. (again - giving permission to them to 'not like' something!

(If you would like further information email Ardis at aok1mucs@ucs.misd.net)

Kinder-Cookers

We serve only food that we've cooked ourselves. Some of the items on our menus in recent years have included: applesauce, cranberry sauce, microwave popcorn, pumpkin muffins, corn muffins (mini sizes on both), slice & bake pumpkin cookies (from Halloween) and apple juice.